The present invention relates to relates generally to conveyor belt systems and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for adjusting the trough angle of a conveyor belt and for automatically centering a conveyor belt that drifts during operation.
Conveyor belts are used in a variety of industries to transport materials from one place to another. Generally, materials are deposited at one end of a conveyor and are transported to the other end, where they are discharged or otherwise removed from the conveyor belt. To assist in containing the material upon the conveyor belt during transport, the conveyor belt can be formed into a trough configuration. This is typically accomplished via the use of a center roller having angled idlers on each side of the center roller (see U.S. Pat. No. 2,225,276 (Parker)) or by having a Y-shaped support having idlers on each leg of the upper portion of the “Y” (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,405,854 (Cumberlege)). See also U.S. Pat. No. 1,705,558 (Cuddihy); U.S. Pat. No. 1,963,099 (Robins); U.S. Pat. No. 2,561,641 (Thomson); U.S. Pat. No. 2,815,851 (Yoshimura) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,173,830 (Cumberlege, et al.). In addition, due to the uneven loading of the content on the trough-configured conveyor belt, the sides of the conveyor may tend to “creep” along either one of the angled idlers, thereby mis-aligning the conveyor belt. To correct for this “creep” self-aligning tracking assemblies are introduced at predetermined locations along the trough-configured conveyor belts. See also Tracker Roller Systems Type R/RG/RC/RRC by Hosch Company LLLP of Oakdale, Pa. or the Tapered Self-Aligning Idler Set 2.6.1 by Hebei Xinshan Conveyor Machinery co. Ltd. of Hebei, China.
Other self-aligning conveyor belt systems do not use a trough configuration but use this swivel or rotating mechanism to restore belt alignment such as those shown in U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2011/0272250 (DeVries) and 2013/0284565 (Kuiper, et al.).
However, there remains a need to provide the user with a means of adjusting the angle of the trough as well as a means of automatically centering the conveyor belt in the trough when the sides of the conveyor belt start to “creep” up the trough sides.
All references cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.